


Prank War

by anotherfngrl



Category: NCIS
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Gen, Spanking, Team as Family, Tony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs Father-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24229072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherfngrl/pseuds/anotherfngrl
Summary: This is pure fluffy family fic, set early in the series while Kate was still with them.Kate and Tony have a prank war, and Tony goes too far. How will he fix it? And how much trouble is he in with Gibbs?There will be paternal, father/son style spanking in this!
Relationships: Abby Sciuto & Caitlin Todd, Anthony DiNozzo & Abby Sciuto, Anthony DiNozzo & Caitlin Todd, Anthony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo & Jethro Gibbs & Caitlin Todd
Comments: 7
Kudos: 43





	Prank War

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nothfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothfan/gifts).



> I wrote this for a wonderfully supportive writing friend, because I asked for prompts to get me past borderline writer's block on a longer fic! I haven't touched these characters in years, but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out! Please let me know what you think.

Anthony DiNozzo is no coward. He is  _ not _ hiding in Abby’s lab because he’s a coward. No, he’s just… not an idiot. There are things no sane man is willing to face. Kate Todd on the warpath is one of those things.

Tony can admit he’s gone too far. It’s something he does. Outrageous is kind of his thing. But his pranks are never supposed to really be damaging, or hurtful. He feels like an asshole, but running when he realized what he’d done had been automatic. He’s not sure how long it took Kate to realize what had happened, but he’s sure he’s dead when she does.

He’s twice as dead when Gibbs finds out. His boss has been very firm with his rules about their pranks- they can have fun, but if he or Ducky has to get involved, they’re dead. And Kate is  _ so _ going to Gibbs about this one, and he so can’t blame her.

When Tony discovered wireless mouses, thanks to the Probie that’s been helping them out on the odd case lately, he’d immediately seen the possibilities for chaos.He’d plugged one in to Kate’s computer the next day, and he’s been messing with it whenever he has the chance for the past few days, since they’re working on cold cases.

Kate has been inputting some of their cold cases, building files to upload them to the national database. He’d click and dragged with the mouse at the exact wrong moment, from his own desk where he couldn’t see what he was doing, and he’d somehow  _ erased _ the files she’d spent the past two days creating and formatting. Right before she uploaded.

So now Tony is hiding in Abby’s inner lab, holding Burt and waiting to die. Abby hadn’t asked any questions when he’d come in, had only taken one look at his face and handed him Burt. She knows that when he’s really upset, he can’t talk about it.

The doors to the lab open, and he jumps when he hears Kate’s voice. But she doesn’t sound furious- she sounds… teary? Oh, God. Tony somehow feels worse.

“Kate! What’s wrong?” Abby chirps. “Burt’s in use, but I’m here for hugs if you need.”

He peeks around the corner to see the other field agent gratefully accept a hug from their resident scientist. “Gibbs is going to kill me, Abby,” she says. “You know Tony and I have been pranking each other a lot, lately. We’ve been bored. Well, Gibbs pulled me aside the this morning and said I’d better have some work to show him by the end of the day- I may have spent too long Post-It noting Tony’s car- I started at lunch but I lost track of time- and I just… I don’t know what I did…. I  _ deleted _ everything I’ve done all week!”

She really sounds like she’s going to cry. And she doesn’t know it was him. Kate thinks it was something  _ she _ did.

Tony should be relieved. He should be ecstatic. Kate’s not going to kill him, or tell Gibbs on him. He should be  _ thrilled. _ Instead, he feels like crying himself.

He misses what Abby says next as he makes himself get up, leaving Burt on the futon. He doesn’t deserve the stuffed hippo’s comfort, not after how much he’s upset his friend.

He walks out into the main part of the lab, ready to confess, only to see Abby tugging Kate upstairs. She turns when she hears him. “Right back, Tony, sorry to dart out on you- computers to fix!” the scientist announces, pulling her friend by the hand.

Tony gapes after them. Can… can Abby  _ fix _ what he did? He thinks that makes him even more of a jerk, if she can. Because he could’ve come straight down and told her about it, and Kate wouldn’t have had to worry, or freak out. But he ran to cover his own ass, never thinking about how his friend would feel, and she’s spent the last twenty minutes at least absolutely freaking out.

Tony takes a minute to psych himself back up, then nervously makes his way upstairs. Kate is throwing her arms around Abby, hugging her. He sags in relief, coming around to their cubicles. Kate hugs him as he walks in.

“Abby fixed it!” she announces. “She saved me. She is a computer  _ goddess _ and I owe her so many drinks after work today. You want to come with us, Tony? I’ll buy you a drink too, for messing with your car.”

Tony’s car isn’t  _ completely _ off limits for pranks- he’s done similarly invasive stuff. But he’d been really upset, yesterday. Upset enough that Gibbs had helped him remove the Post-Its and, he’s just learned, told Kate off. She obviously feels bad for upsetting him yesterday- only because she doesn’t know what he did  _ today. _

He feels too guilty to enjoy hanging out with his friends. “I’m going to pass, Katie. Maybe next time,” he says, returning quietly to his desk and trying to block the others out. Abby and Kate look at him strangely, almost worried, but he ignores them and they go back to talking quietly.

Gibbs walks down the steps from MTAC a moment later, looking unimpressed to find the girls chatting. “You two. Back to work. No active cases doesn’t mean no work- you see DiNozzo? He’s getting things done.” Gibbs shoots him an approving smile, and Tony actually considers sinking to the floor. He feels lower than dirt.

He doesn’t know what to do. His prank hasn’t caused any real harm. Abby fixed it. Gibbs doesn’t even know anything went wrong, much less that it was Tony’s fault. But seeing the girls scolded while Gibbs  _ compliments _ him, when he’s the reason Abby is upstairs fixing things in the first place, makes him feel like a jerk.

Plus how upset Katie was. She’s an amazing field agent and well aware of it. Seeing her so upset about a mistake at work would’ve made him want to do  _ anything _ to fix it for her, even if the mistake had been hers. But it wasn’t. It was 100% Tony Dinozzo, team idiot.

Kate goes on a coffee run an hour or so later, offering to bring him back a drink. He waves her off, claiming it’s too late for caffeine. She shouldn't be being  _ nice _ to him. He’s the worst.

Gibbs walks over to his desk once she’s left. “With me, DiNozzo,” he says, and leads him to the elevator.

Tony thinks Gibbs has figured it out, and he has no idea how, but he’s  _ so relieved. _ He knows this goes way past headslap territory, but he’s kind of glad he’s going to get spanked- he can stop feeling so terrible. So when Gibbs just looks at him, searching and concerned, in the elevator, he nearly groans.

“The car thing upset you that bad?” his Boss asks.

“No, Boss,” Tony assures him immediately. The last thing he wants is Gibbs thinking Kate’s upset him, and being unhappy with  _ her. _ Kate hasn’t done anything wrong.

“Awfully quiet today, DiNozzo,” Gibbs notes.

This is the time to come clean. Tony knows it is. All he has to say is, ‘I screwed up,’ and his Boss will listen to the story, help him fix it, and punish him for messing up in the first place. But he can’t make himself say the words.

What comes out instead is, “Still waters, Boss, still waters.”

Gibbs looks at him oddly and Tony half thinks he’s about to get whacked for the obvious lie. Instead, Gibbs pats him on the shoulder. Tony automatically leans into the reassuring touch, before abruptly straightening up. He doesn’t deserve reassurance and affection- he  _ screwed up. _

Gibbs looks at him oddly, but doesn’t press, just cancels the emergency stop. They return to their desks and Tony tries to get back to work, but he struggles to focus.

Kate returns a few minutes later, and she brings him a hot chocolate he’s positive he didn’t ask for, and a cookie. Given the way she teases him about his unhealthy snack choices, it’s a major peace offering. He’s stunned. Hot chocolate is a major comfort food for him, which Katie definitely knows, and he wishes he could let the gesture make him feel better.

But if she knew what he did, she’d pour it on his head. Still, she’s obviously worried, and everybody seems to be connecting his mood to the car thing. He doesn’t want her to feel guilty, so he gives her his best smile. “Thanks, Katie. You’re the greatest!”

“Glad you’ve finally realized that. Is that why you haven’t pranked me all day? You know you can’t top my Post-It’s?” she teases, but she’s checking, he knows she is.

The sip of hot chocolate he just took turns to dust in his mouth. “You are the Queen, and I bow down and concede defeat,” he tells her, lowering his voice to add, “And I don’t want anything going too far, and getting anyone in trouble.”

He feels terrible that Gibbs reprimanded her about his car, and even worse that he took things as far as he did earlier today. Better to call a cease fire now, so she doesn’t get suspicious about his unwillingness to play.

“I’ll stop,” Kate tells him, a mischievous smile on her face. “Once I’ve got my crown!”

She goes back to her desk and gets back to work. Tony heard her tell Abby she’s uploaded her files, so now she’s digging through old cases, same as him. Tony slides the sleeve off of his hot chocolate and cuts points into it, drawing a laughing face on the front. He tosses it towards Kate, pleased when it lands right side up on her desk.

Kate looks up, surprised. “What’s this?” she asks.

“Your crown, my lady,” Tony tells her with a seated bow. Kate snorts, but she hangs it off the side of her monitor, so he figures she appreciates the gesture. She’s not sneaking worried glances at him every few minutes anymore, at least.

Tony’s glad to have made up a  _ little _ of what he’s screwed up today to her. He still doesn’t know how to go about dealing with the guilt he’s feeling, though. He can’t exactly beg for forgiveness when no one knows he’s done anything to forgive, and people being so  _ nice _ and  _ concerned _ is just making things worse.

When Kate joined the team, Tony was worried. The Secret Service Agent was far more qualified than he was to be a Fed, and no matter what Gibbs had said to him when he brought him on about Rule 5, Tony knew he wasn’t all that ‘good’ compared to Kate.

He’d worried Gibbs would replace him, and had been downright jumpy and borderline antagonistic at first. Kate had grown on him in spite of himself, and Gibbs had finally drilled it into his stubborn head that she was a  _ teammate, _ not a replacement.

He’d gotten into plenty of trouble trying to prove his worth or lashing out at her in jealousy at first, but they’ve settled into a brother/sister sort of relationship, teasing and tormenting each other but always having each other’s backs. He’s glad Kate joined the team.

What Tony hadn’t initially considered, but is now, is how different  _ he _ is with people to play with. It had been easier to keep himself in check, working with just Gibbs. When he stepped out of line, Gibbs smacked him and dragged him back before he got into too much trouble. He and Abby are good friends outside of work, but the nature of their jobs meant they don’t really see each other enough to get into much trouble during work hours. Occasional trouble, yes, they’ve gotten carried away with silliness before, but nothing extreme or frequent enough to jeopardize Gibbs’ faith in him. 

Today is different. Tony didn’t just play a mean prank on a coworker, that caused real distress. That was bad enough. That was  _ way _ too far. But he also potentially destroyed hours and hours of work, costing the team and NCIS as a whole valuable resources in the form of Kate’s time and any leads her work might generate. If Abby hadn’t fixed it…

So Tony’s scared to tell Kate what he did because she’ll be mad, and she’ll probably lose trust in him. But he’s absolutely  _ terrified _ for Gibbs to find out. He’s pretty sure he screwed up bad enough to get himself suspended, with this one, if Gibbs doesn’t outright fire him- not necessarily for messing up Kate’s work or upsetting her, but for his spectacularly bad judgement.

Tony is obsessing, not working. He can’t live like this. The axe is going to fall, sooner or later. Eventually, someone is going to notice the extra USB plug in Kate’s monitor, and if they don’t immediately figure out it was him all they have to do is check the security footage.

Tony decides that he’s a dead man, but he wants to at least apologize to Kate properly before he’s executed. She’d probably be more likely to take pity on him after Gibbs kills him, but Tony can’t face admitting his mistake to his Boss. Probably, once he apologizes to Kate he won’t have to- she’ll tell on him and save him the trouble.

Besides, he wants her to know he genuinely feels terrible about hurting her, it’s not just that Gibbs is probably going to beat an apology out of him. He owes Abby one, too, because she had to fix his mess and got scolded for being upstairs talking to Kate because of it.

Not wanting to be conspicuous, he heads down to the lab, texting Kate to please join him. Abby turns the music down as soon as she sees him. “Tony! I was surprised you went back upstairs without saying anything,” she says.

Abby is always there for him when he’s had a rough day. Now, she hugs him tightly. “I hope you’re feeling better?” she asks, but her tone is doubtful.

He hears Kate walk in and detaches himself from Abby’s warmth so he can face them both. “I screwed up really, really bad, guys,” he says, looking between their faces.

Kate looks uncomprehending for a second, then tells him immediately, “Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.” She looks ready to jump into action, as soon as he tells her what the problem is.

That’s Katie. Protective and loyal to a fault. Even to a jerk like him, who clearly doesn’t deserve it. He shakes his head, but Abby interrupts.

“We will, Tony. Tell us what you did and we’ll figure out how to fix it. Between the three of us, we can do it!” she assures him.

“You can’t fix it, guys. And I don’t deserve to even have you try,” Tony tells them guiltily.

“Of course you do, Tony!” Abby tells him.

Kate head slaps him. “Don’t talk like that. You’re part of our team. We’re a family. You’re like… my obnoxious brother. I’m not going to let you go down just because you made a mistake.”

Tony smirks miserably. “That,” he says seriously, “is because you don’t know what I did yet.”

“What, did you upload a virus onto my computer to delete my files, earlier?” Kate scoffs. Tony freezes, going cold. “What, your retaliation for the prank with your car was to get me in big trouble with Gibbs?” She laughs at the absurdity of it.

Abby chimes in, “You wouldn’t do something like that, Tony. You wouldn’t do anything that would really hurt someone.”

Tony wants the floor to swallow him up. He feels too hot and too cold at the same time, so ashamed he can barely speak. “It wasn’t a virus,” he whispers, “And it wasn’t supposed to ruin anything or get you in trouble.”

Kate stares at him. Abby’s mouth drops as she does the same.

“You deleted my files?” Kate demands, voice rising in shock.

“I don’t know how I did it!” Tony confesses. “I plugged in a wireless mouse to your monitor. I’ve been just moving it occasionally. I decided to click today, for some reason, and I must have managed to drag them or something. I don’t know what I did, but I promise you I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble. That’s why I was down here, earlier.”

Tony turns to Abby, unable to face Kate any longer. “I came down because I thought Kate knew, and was going to kill me. It didn’t occur to me that of course she had no idea I was controlling her mouse. I was waiting for her to come find me, and tell Gibbs what I’d done, and then when she came in here, and she was so upset… I felt like dirt. I’m so glad you fixed it, Abs. I’m so sorry, both of you.”

Abby blinks slowly. “Well, that’s how you deleted the files by renaming one. You must’ve been deleting the old name when Tony selected the files, so they got deleted instead.”

Kate continues, “And I didn’t think to look in the Recycle Bin until you came up because, logically, I hadn’t deleted anything.”

She stares at Tony. “Gibbs was already annoyed with me for upsetting you with the Post-It Notes. I got a whole lecture this morning about pranks that hurt people not being funny.  _ And _ he swatted me,” she tells him.

Swatted, not smacked. So not on the head. Tony feels terrible. Kate got into real trouble, for doing something less than 1% as bad as what he did.

“He’d definitely have spanked me if I hadn’t been able to show him what I’ve been working on the last few days, for messing around playing pranks instead of working. And it’s pure  _ luck _ Abby was able to fix it. I came down here looking for  _ sympathy, _ it didn’t occur to me she could really help,” Kate tells him.

Tony thinks he’s going to cry. “I’d have said something, Kate, I swear. I wouldn’t have let you get punished because of me. I had to tell you what I did because you were so upset, and it was all my fault!” he wails.

Kate’s furious look abruptly softens. “I believe you,” she says. “You still owe me.. Let’s say Post-It’s to replace all the ones I used on your car. And I’m still prank queen,” she decides.

“Anything,” Tony tells her immediately. “I’m so sorry, Katie.”

She hugs him, and Abby wraps her arms around both of them. Tony’s so relieved he feels a couple of tears trying to break free, and squeezes his eyes shut to avoid them falling. Gibbs is still going to kill him dead, but at least his ‘sisters’ still love him.

That means Tony’s eyes are squeezed shut when the elevator opens, and he’s the only one facing the glass doors to the hall. So they’re all very surprised when Gibbs walks in. They pull apart when he clears his throat, and the girls turn to face him, one on either side of Tony.

“I wondered where my team had gone,” he says, but he sounds amused and a little fond, as much as exasperated. “What are you doing?”

Tony glances at Kate, knowing she’s about to rat him out and he deserves it. He’s surprised when she reaches out to squeeze his hand, quickly. “We were just discussing the ceasefire of the prank war, and why we’re done playing tricks on each other,” she tells Gibbs. It’s true, and it doesn’t give him up- Tony is filled with startled gratitude, that she’s not trying to get him in trouble.

“Oh.” He looks surprised. “Good.”

Good? That’s all Gibbs has to say? He’s not going to interrogate them about why they’re stopping? Kate and Abby aren’t going to rat him out? Tony doesn’t know if he’s relieved or disappointed- Kate may not be mad at him, but he still knows he screwed up, and that his Boss would absolutely be furious if he knew. He feels like a liar and a fraud, standing there.

“What are you all waiting for?” Gibbs asks. “Back to work!”

Tony throws himself into his work for the rest of the day, and by the time Gibbs calls them over to share what they’ve been working on, he’s got a couple of promising leads to show off. Kate goes first, and her work uploading the cases- drudge work, but definitely important, gets her an appreciative, “Nice work,” from Gibbs.

Tony’s own investigative leaps earn him a, “This is real good work, Tony,” and he blushes under the attention. Kate shoots him a pleased smile.

But Gibbs hasn’t dismissed them yet, and Tony doesn’t know why. He’s surprised when their Boss says, “I’m proud of you two for your hard work, today. You buckled down, didn’t let the pranks get in the way, and got a lot done. You’ve worked hard all week.”

Tony might spontaneously combust from shame. It only gets worse when Gibbs adds, “Cookout at my place tomorrow. Come at four. Kate, bring a side dish. Duck’s bringing one too. Tony, you’re on beer. Abby’s in charge of dessert. I’m doing burgers. I need to get turkey or something for you?” Gibbs asks Kate. She’s gone through a few different eating strategies, since she’s been on the team. What she’ll eat at team get togethers varies.

“If you don’t mind,” she says.

“Offered, didn’t I?” Gibbs points out.

“Turkey burgers would be great,” Kate tells him.

“You’re dismissed. Go home, people. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Gibbs tells them. Tony hesitates, trying to work up the nerve to tell his Boss he needs to talk to him, but Gibbs looks at him, surprised. “What are you waiting for, DiNozzo? I said ‘git’!” Gibbs tells him, and Tony obeys on autopilot, losing his nerve.

He drives home, but once he’s there he can’t seem to settle. Tony knows Gibbs- knows how much the other man values honesty and trust. And Tony just sat there and let Gibbs tell him ‘good work’ and that he was  _ proud, _ knowing he’s a total screw up!

Tony has a beer, trying to settle in for a Magnum PI marathon, but it doesn’t work. He manages to spill his second beer all over himself, and he’s so frustrated he  _ growls. _ He can’t do this.

Deciding he’s a dead man anyway and might as well get it over with, Tony grabs his keys and heads back out the door, to his Boss’ house. It's not too late in the evening, and Gibbs always says his door is never locked- and it’s not like Gibbs could  _ be _ any more pissed than he’s going to be when he finds out what Tony’s done.

Tony lets himself in, as usual. He’s expecting his Boss to be in the basement, but he comes out of the kitchen at the sound of the door opening.

“DiNozzo?” Gibbs says, surprised. “You’re a little early for the cookout.” His Boss comes closer, looking him over worriedly. “And you’re supposed to  _ bring _ beer tomorrow, not show up smelling like a brewery,” he says sharply. “You drunk?”

“No, I’m a klutz, I spilled it. I was losing my mind, freaking out, I decided it’d be better to just get it over with, so you could kill me. Can you please just kill me so I can stop worrying?” Tony asks forlornly.

“Tony, breathe,” Gibbs tells him gently.

Tony does not. “I’m a screw up, Gibbs, you should just fire me, you’re going to hate me,” he moans in miserable guilt.

“Not gonna hate you, Tony,” Gibbs tells him steadily. “Might smack you if you don’t tell me what’s going on, though.”

“I went way, way too far, Gibbs. I screwed up so bad,” Tony admits, the words barely a whisper.

“Tell me,” Gibbs commands.

“There’s a reason we stopped the pranks. I did something I really, really shouldn’t have,” Tony admits. Gibbs just waits for him to go on, and eventually he does. “I found out you can get a wireless computer mouse, and plug it into someone else’s computer. So you can move their mouse,” he explains.

Gibbs raises a surprised eyebrow (Gibbs can barely use the regular mouse, Tony thinks irreverently) but doesn’t comment. Tony continues. “I plugged one in to Kate’s computer, and I’ve been jerking her mouse around unexpectedly every so often. Except I picked just the wrong moment, and I deleted everything she’d been working on,” he admits.

“Abby thinks I selected the files right as Kate hit delete for something else. Abby was able to get them back, but Boss, I thought Kate was going to  _ cry. _ She didn’t know I’d done it, and she was worried she was going to be in trouble,” he confesses. “And I told her what I did and that I was sorry, and she just… she  _ forgave _ me! And pranks aren’t supposed to hurt anyone or mess anything up for real, and if it weren’t for Abby… I screwed up so bad!” he cries, rushing through his explanation miserably.

“Not your brightest stunt, DiNozzo,” Gibbs tells him sternly. Tony winces, shoulders hunching in. He tries to make himself look up, face his Boss for the dressing down, accept his punishment even if he’s fired, but he  _ can’t. _

“Tony, look at me.” Gibbs’ voice has softened a hair, and Tony risks a glance up. “It was boneheaded and it could’ve gone really bad- messing with someone else’s work is  _ off limits- _ but it wasn’t deliberately hurtful or destructive. You’re in trouble, but it’s not the end of the world, kiddo.”

Tony gasps, realizing belatedly that he’s been holding his breath. He’s in trouble, of course he’s in trouble, but he’s still so relieved he can barely speak. “I’m sorry, Boss, I’m so sorry. I’ll accept whatever punishment you think is fair, I already apologized to Katie, I’ll do it again, she can watch if you think she should,” he babbles nervously.

“Not gonna let her watch, Tony,” Gibbs assures him gently. Tony sags in relief. “And I’m proud of you for apologizing, before I knew. You saw you hurt her and you fixed it. That’s good work, Tony.”

Unlike earlier, those words don’t fill him with guilty dread, only warmth and pleasure- Gibbs knows he messed up, but he’s still pleased with him for doing something  _ right _ too.

“C’mon, we’ll get this handled,” Gibbs tells him, leading Tony to the living room. Tony follows, nervous now that punishment is imminent. He waits for instructions, expecting to be sent to get one of the paddles- Gibbs had made him make a paddle after a particularly dumb, life threatening adventure a few months ago, and he’s also got a ping pong paddle thing he occasionally uses on Tony when he’s been an idiot, but no one could’ve been  _ hurt. _ He’s hoping this is just a round paddle screw up, but, given how upset Kate was, he’ll take the big one without complaint.

So he’s surprised when his Boss sits on the couch and gestures him forward. He must look confused as he obeys, because Gibbs explains, “You did something thoughtless, with serious enough potential consequences that I would’ve used the round paddle on you if I’d found out any other way. But you ‘fessed up when you could’ve gotten away with it easily, Tony, so it’s just my hand.”

Tony nods, biting his lip. He’s surprised at the mercy, but he shouldn’t be. Gibbs is nothing like his father was- the other man genuinely cares about him, and he sees the best in Tony no matter how many times he screws up. He unfastens his pants, letting Gibbs pull him into place. Once he’s over the other man’s lap, his Boss tugs down his pants and underwear, baring him.

“What’s this spanking for, Tony?” Gibbs asks.

“Playing a prank on Kate that could actually mess up her work, and really upset her. We’re allowed to play pranks as long as they’re not mean or damaging, I went too far,” he confesses.

“You did, Tony,” Gibbs tells him sternly, and begins spanking.

As relieved as Tony is not to be getting paddled, Gibbs’ hand always hurts plenty. His Boss doesn’t spank  _ fast, _ but he does spank steadily, and blow after blow rains down on Tony’s vulnerable backside until he’s gasping.

“You need to think before you act, Tony,” Gibbs tells him as he spanks. “You weren’t tryin’ to hurt Kate or mess things up, but you didn’t  _ think,  _ and it went really bad. Abs saved the day, but she wouldn’t’a had to if you’d used your head.”

The scolding hurts as much as the spanks on his ever-reddening backside. Tony whines sadly. Gibbs keeps swatting him, not spanking harder or faster, just  _ relentlessly, _ with the determination he does everything with, and eventually Tony loses his battle with tears. He’s felt terrible for hours, and how it’s a relief to just cry, and let Gibbs give him what he deserves.

Gibbs always finishes by spanking hard, exactly where it hurts worst. To ‘make sure the lesson sticks with him’. So when he feels his Boss tip him forward to get better access to his sit spots, Tony grabs onto Gibbs’ leg and screws his eyes shut.

“You are too smart and too good of an agent to make such a dumb mistake, Tony,” Gibbs tells him, his hand falling hard and fast all over the lowest, sorest part of Tony’s butt. He hisses, feeling his breathing hitch as tears turn to soft sobs. “Think it through next time, Tony, before you earn yourself a spanking,” his Boss advises, giving him a last, hard wallop across both cheeks.

Gibbs lets him cry and rubs his back for a minute or two, then helps him pull his pants up and slide to the floor. “Sorry, Boss,” Tony says softly, looking up at Gibbs.

“You won’t do it again,” Gibbs tells him, and it’s a statement, not an order, because Gibbs knows. Knows Tony regrets the mistake, and that he’s learned his lesson. Trusts him to do better, even though he screwed up this time.

Tony climbs awkwardly to his feet, and Gibbs steadies him before standing as well and tugging him into a hug. Tony goes glady, letting his head rest on his Boss’ shoulder. Gibbs wraps a hand around the back of Tony’s neck and strokes the other up and down his spine, and he feels so  _ safe. _ He’s so glad he confessed, it’s worth his sore butt to be  _ forgiven, _ to know it’s okay now. Gibbs always sorts it out.

“You eat yet?” Gibbs asks him eventually.

“I had beer for dinner,” Tony admits. Gibbs looks at him in startled displeasure, and Tony backtracks. “Just the one! I dropped the second one and I got so frustrated I decided you were going to be pissed whether I confessed now or later so I might as well get it over with.”

“Let’s get some food in you,” Gibbs decides, and leads Tony to the kitchen, where he makes him a sandwich, not pausing to ask what he wants on it. Gibbs knows all of his preferences.

Tony doesn’t bother to protest, just gets himself a glass of water and leans against the counter to eat his sandwich. “You know,” he wheedles once he’s finished, “I think I left Dr. No here a while back.”

Gibbs smiles indulgently. “It’s sitting by the TV,” his Boss tells him.

After he finishes his sandwich, they watch his movie. When it’s over and his eyes are drooping, his Boss just hands him an old, comfortable pair of Navy sweatpants and a faded t-shirt and sends him to change for bed. Tony keeps spare clothes here, has a toothbrush in the bathroom and everything, but he always sleeps in his Boss’ clothes. It makes him feel safe, and cared for.

There’s no discussion of whether he’s staying- Gibbs rarely lets him go home after he’s been spanked, usually keeping him for the rest of the evening so he can make sure Tony’s taken care of and knows he’s forgiven. There’s comfort in the routine, and Tony just smiles sleepily when his Boss cracks open the door of the guest bedroom that’s practically his at this point, smiling softly at him and telling him to, “Sleep well.”

Tomorrow, they’ll have breakfast and Tony will convince Gibbs to go for a run with him. They’ll probably just go to the store together, so Gibbs can get burger stuff and Tony can pick up beer. He’ll help his Boss get ready for the rest of the team, and they’ll all spend the afternoon and evening together, eating and laughing.

If the fun goes too late, Ducky will wish them a good night and remind them to be good before going home to check on his mother. The girls will take the bedroom, having brought overnight bags because they almost always go too late, and Tony will bunk with Gibbs. His Boss will threaten to smack him if he hogs the covers, but after Gibbs checks on the girls and reminds them to actually sleep and not just stay up all night talking, he’ll come back to his room and find Tony already half asleep on the far side of the bed, and his Boss will ruffle his hair before turning off the light, and Tony will know Gibbs is glad that they’re all there.

He’s glad, too, every moment he gets to spend with his team-family. He’s so glad they found each other, that Gibbs brought them together.

For tonight, Tony curls around his pillow and falls asleep, content. He’s home safe.


End file.
